The invention set forth in this specification pertains to new and improved pipe cleaning machines of a type commonly utilized in many chemical or process industries for cleaning pipes or tubes such as those employed within heat exchange apparatus and various related types of process equipment.
The pipe cleaning machines of the type to which this invention pertains are normally constructed so as to utilize an enclosed, elongated cylinder within which there is located a piston. A non-round piston rod is normally attached to the piston so as to extend out of one end of the cylinder through a rotary seal mechanism sealing the noted end of the cylinder. A conventional mechanical coupling structure is normally employed so as to transfer rotation from a motor to the piston rod externally of the cylinder. A drill or drill type member is normally mounted on the end of the piston rod remote from the cylinder. Appropriate conduit and valve means are employed so that hydraulic fluid may be moved into and out of the ends of the cylinder in order to move both the piston and the piston rod axially of the cylinder as the apparatus is employed.
During the use of a pipe cleaning machine as indicated in the preceding the machine is mounted on any conveniently available structure so that the piston rod is aligned with a pipe or tube to be cleaned. Then the machine is operated so that the piston and piston rod are moved in order to move the drill or drill type member into the pipe or tube as the piston rod is rotated.
As a result of this action it is possible to effectively remove comparatively hard, tenacious deposits from within the interiors of pipes and tubes used for different, diverse purposes. The difficulty in the removal of such deposits, of course, varies in accordance with the nature of such deposits. As a result of comparative difficulty in removing certain types of deposits it is considered desirable to construct such machines so that comparatively high pressure hydraulic fluids are applied to the cylinder employed in such a machine in order to move the piston and the attached drill rod and similar tool toward such a deposit.
Because the cylinders employed in such machines are comparatively long, are preferably constructed so as to have comparatively thin walls, and because there is a chance of such cylinders being damaged to a degree so as to be weakened as they are transported from one location to another for use in cleaning out different types of tubes it is considered that there is an element of danger involved in the use of such comparatively high pressure fluids in such machines. Such danger relates to a chance that such a cylinder might be ruptured by the pressure of the fluid employed. Such rupture would result in hydraulic fluid squirting out of the cylinder in such a manner as to present a hazard. As a result of this it is considered that there is a need to improve pipe cleaning machines as indicated in the preceding so as to lessen the danger resulting from the use of comparatively high pressure hydraulic fluids in such machines.